Chamber and committees

Support for the refurbishment of cultural assets, such as small-scale building renovations, accessibility improvements or installing fixed assets, can be accessed by individuals and organisations applying to Creative Scotland’s Open Fund.

On a select case-by-case basis, a Regularly Funded Organisation (RFO) by Creative Scotland may also be authorised to use some of its regular funding towards refurbishment costs. This would require the organisation to demonstrate to Creative Scotland how the refurbishment represents value for money, public benefit and supports the delivery of their overall creative programme.

The Scottish Government uses a range of techniques to monitor and study fish populations which is critical to inform the management actions put in place to protect species. Internal tagging is used when there is no appropriate alternative method available to answer the specific question being addressed. It is a regulated procedure covered by the Animals (Scientific procedures) Act 1986 and is performed under licence from the Home Office. Alternatives to this method are examined and adopted where possible by the Scottish Government following the principles of the 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) embedded in the act.

Four civil servants have worked part-time on its four-day working week four-day working week public sector pilot, since April 2023.

The Scottish Government is committed to keeping The Promise we have made to all care experienced children, young people and adults across Scotland. In March of 2022, we published the Scottish Government’s Promise Implementation Plan that sets a broad range of actions and commitments across portfolio that we will take by 2030.

The Implementation Plan works in harmony with the Best Start, Bright Futures: tackling child poverty delivery plan 2022 to 2026 and is aligned with our strategic approach to education, health, justice, transport and communities. The cross portfolio approach to change is supported by a Cabinet Sub Committee for The Promise that, Chaired by The First Minister, met for the first time in October.

Key areas of progress to date that the Scottish Government is leading include:

• The new Scottish Recommended Allowance for foster and kinship carers will benefit over 9,000 families, helping them to provide the standard of living and wellbeing the children and young people in their care deserve.
• In November, a consultation on a £2000 Care Leaver Payment was opened. This commitment will support our young people as they transition into adulthood.
• The Children’s Care and Justice (Scotland) Bill is presently going through Parliament and if agreed will bring an end to the placement of 16 and 17 year olds in young offenders institutions, and increase the age of referral to the Childrens Hearing System to 18.
• Earlier this year Sheriff Mackie completed his review of the Childrens Hearing System. The Scottish Government will publish its response by the end of this calendar year.
• The commitment to £500m investment in Whole Family Wellbeing Funding will improve holistic family support so families get the right support, in the right way and at the right time. Our investment approach will be published in due course.
• From academic year 2023-24, care experienced students receive £9000 in bursary support. This is an increase of £900 from the previous academic year. In academic year 2022/23, support provided via the Care Experienced Bursary increased to £13.8m, with the number of care experienced students supported increasing to 1,840.
• Over £12m has been invested through the Promise Partnership Fund to support local projects across Scotland, the latest round of successful projects were announced in October. The Scottish Government remains committed to investing £4m per annum in Promise Partnership Funding to 2024-25.

The Scottish Government is committed to Keeping The Promise we have made to all care experienced children, young people and adults across Scotland. In March of 2022, we published the Scottish Government’s Promise Implementation Plan that sets a broad range of actions and commitments across portfolio that we will take by 2030.

The Implementation Plan works in harmony with the Best Start, Bright Futures: Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2022 to 2026 and is aligned with our strategic approach to education, health, justice, transport and communities. The cross portfolio approach to change is supported by a Cabinet Sub-Committee on The Promise that, Chaired by The First Minister, met for the first time in October.

Key actions underway include:

• A continued commitment to work in partnership with key stakeholders to ensure that the ambitions of the recommendations of both the Care Leavers Homelessness Prevention Pathway, and the Continuing Care reports are addressed. The pathway to prevent homelessness for care leavers sets out a number of recommendations designed to protect care leavers, including ensuring consistent implementation of both Continuing Care and Aftercare policy.
• Commitment to investing £500m in Whole Family Wellbeing Funding to improve holistic family support so families get the right support, in the right way and at the right time. This support is helping to reduce the need for crisis intervention and contribute to improving people’s lives across a wide range of different areas, including but not limited to, child and adolescent mental health, child poverty, alcohol and drugs misuse and educational attainment.
• Phoenix Future’s Harper House service was opened by the former First Minister in Saltcoats on 21 November 2022. It is a unique national family service which can support up to 20 families at one time, improving access for residential rehabilitation for drug or alcohol use for people with families.
  

The Scottish Government values and appreciates all the work that Who Cares? Scotland does to support and advocate for all Care Experienced people and we are committed to working with Who Cares? Scotland and other key partners to ensure that we Keep The Promise to care experienced adults and ensure that their voices are heard.

The Scottish Government is bringing forward legislation that will provide further protection to the rights of care experienced, children, young people and adults. This includes:

• A commitment to Scotland being the first UK nation to incorporate the UNCRC into domestic law, ensuring we are a country that respects, protects and fulfils children's rights.
• The Children's Care and Justice (Scotland) Bill, which is presently going through Parliament, and if agreed will bring an end to the placement of 16 and 17 years olds in young offenders institutions, and increase the age of referral to the Children's Hearing System to 18.
• A commitment to a Promise Bill by the end of this Parliamentary session, to make any further legislative changes required to Keep The Promise for children, young people and adults.
  

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23120 on 7 December 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Data on the outcomes and achievements of school pupils with additional support needs are published on the Scottish Government website.

Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels data provides information on attainment of school pupils in literacy and attainment ( School education statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ). Information on pupils with additional support needs can be found in Section 4.3 of the publication. The latest data available is for 2021-22 with 2022-23 data due to be published on 12 December 2023.

Data on the attainment and initial destinations of school leavers can be found in the Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations publication ( School education statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ). Information on pupils with additional support needs can be found in tables 3 and 6. The latest data available is for 2021-22 with 2022-23 data due to be published in February 2024.

Data on the follow-up destinations of school leavers can be found in the Summary Statistics for Follow-up Destinations publication ( School education statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ). Information on pupils with additional support needs can be found in table 3. The latest data available is for 2021-22 with 2022-23 data due to be published in June 2024.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) and the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) publish a range of information for colleges and universities for disabled students. Information can be accessed through their websites at ( Data and analysis | HESA ) and releases ( Report on Widening Access 2021-22 (sfc.ac.uk) ).

The Students Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) publish data each year on the number of supported Higher Education students at college and university claiming Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA). Data is available through the Higher Education Student Support in Scotland publication ( https://www.saas.gov.uk/about-saas/statistics ).

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23120 on 7 December 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Scottish Enterprise uses the Scottish Enterprise Regional and SME Investment Subsidy Scheme (the Scheme) to provide RSA grant funding. The Scheme includes a requirement that, to be eligible for support, large companies must be opening a new establishment or diversifying the activity at an existing site. There is no such requirement for SMEs. This requirement is consistent with the general approach to regional investment funding across the UK and Europe.

RSA is not the only mechanism Scottish Enterprise uses for funding eligible projects within the manufacturing sector. Scottish Enterprise has a wide range of subsidy schemes for which diversification is not a requirement for funding. The Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise consistently review support mechanisms in place and welcome feedback on how to support companies within the rules set out by the Subsidy Control regime.